Johannah

Johannah is a spelling in the Johanna and Joanna family, with an additional final h. Its ancestry runs through Latin Iohanna and Greek Ioanna to the Hebrew name behind John. The meaning is God is gracious. This places Johannah within a longstanding feminine name family rather than making it dependent on a modern combination of Jo and Hannah.

Joanna appears in the New Testament as a woman who followed Jesus, giving the related forms a clear biblical association. Johanna became established in several European languages, while Johannah provides another way to preserve that family sound in writing. Jo is an uncomplicated short form. For families choosing among Joanna, Johanna, and Johannah, the shared history is substantial; an inherited family spelling may be the detail that makes one version especially meaningful.